new york by the numbers

3 amazing friends and

1 future birthday girl who is turning

30 on june 6 (that's me).

9:00pm: the time we got in the car and took off for what i thought was to be an innocent "girls' night out".

9:31pm: the time we got in the car after not eating at applebees (we ordered, but it came in a to-go bag).

9:33pm: the time they surprised me with "we're going to new york!"

12 minutes it took for me to actually believe them.

246 times i screamed "no really!?  are you serious?!"

2 hours to scranton where we stayed our first night.

50 lbs. . . the weight of the bag josh packed for me as part of the surprise.

$8 (on sale!)for a breast pump to help melanie through her first time away from baby eva.

4 minutes late (tuesday morning) for the train into the city, so we waited till the

10:30am train from new jersey to penn station.

2 cops with major new york accents who hit on our little miss melanie ("what?  you have four kids?  you little thing!")

9 people in line at the shake shack when we got there and i ordered

1 delicious cheeseburger, the most yummy fries i've ever eaten, and a scrumptious strawberry milkshake.  (hey, i was in new york.  it was definitely a sugar-free free day.  don't judge me, just love me . . .)

329 people in line at the shake shack when were leaving.

4 bobbi brown makeup artists at saks fifth avenue who gave us all complete makeovers.

4 beautiful girls who looked even more beautiful after a little pampering.

10 text messages between me and aubry so she could feel like she was there.

90 minutes spent in h&m.

3 beautiful, tasty cupcakes bought at magnolia bakery, along with 

1 mini cheesecake (brooke, you're such a rebel).

20 minutes on the subway to brooklyn, and

1.5 minutes it took for me to realize that brooklyn is my favorite borough (well, that i've seen).

0 minute wait at grimaldi's pizza to order

2 of the tastiest pizzas i've ever had (pizza perfection!)

165 people in line at grimaldi's when we were leaving.

1 sign that reminded us of why we were so glad to be kid-free . . .

2 brownstones whose windows we peeked through because we just couldn't resist.

4 husbands who got calls requesting permission to stay one more night and

4 awesome husbands who let us.

37 calls to gary for assistance with navigating our way around the city.

25 times i randomly said "breast pump".

10:39: subway we took from penn station to the train station to take us back to new jersey.

12am: time we got to our hotel.

2:30am: time i woke up with that familiar feeling in my stomach and

30 minutes to throw up all aforementioned food.

7:30am: time on wednesday we left for home.

1 driver (thanks jordan!) for the entire

540 minutes we spent in the car talking about our families, scripture study, t.v., husbands, kids, and how much we are going to miss each other after we go our different ways.

12noon: time we arrived home, exhausted, to happy children and relieved husbands.

1 trip of a lifetime with friends i will never forget.

thanks brooke, jordan, and melanie for such a thoughtful, wonderful, fun surprise.  i love you girls and i am so thankful for the memories we have made this year.

i'm still not thinking about goodbyes . . .